Wire basket construction



March 1953 c. s; GLENNY 2,825, 81

WIRE BASKET CONSTRUCTION Filed June 29, 1956 WEE BASKET CONSTRUCTIONClarence S. Glenny, RocMord, 1ll., assignor to The Washburn Qompany,Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application June 29,1956, Serial No. 594,901 10 Ciaims. (Cl. 220-19) This invention relatesto a new and improved wire basket construction.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a basket, the cornersof which are all neatly closed and are at the same time reinforced, byvirtue of the novel method of welding right-angle bent edge portions onthe opposite ends of the basket in overlapped relationship to theadjacent ends of the other two sides.

Another feature of the invention is the elimination of raw ends on thehorizontal wires of the end walls by providing upwardly bent endportions on the lowermost horizontal wires on the end walls and havingthe ends of all or" the other horizontal wires on the end walls weldedto these upwardly bent end portions. The upwardly bent end portions havetheir upper ends looped around the top frame on the far side of loops onthe upper ends of the endmost vertical wires of the adjacent side wallsto provide an additional overlapping tie at each corner for maximumstrength.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig.l is a view of the cross-shaped wire blank for the body of the basket;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one corner of the body portion of thebasket as it appears after two forming operations on the blank in which(1) The opposite side portions of the end wall portions are bentupwardly, and

(2) The side wall portions are bent upwardly relative to the bottomportion, and the end wall portions are bent upwardly, disposing the bentside portions of the end walls in overlapping relationship to theadjacent ends of the side walls;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one corner of the completed basket, theoverlapping portions having been pressed together and welded and theupper ends of all of the upwardly extending wires having been loopedaround and welded to the wire top frame, and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional detail on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in thesefour views.

Referring to the drawing, the flat welded cross-shaped wire blank Bshown in Fig. 1 has spaced parallel wires 5 welded at the intersectionsto other spaced parallel wires 6 disposed at right angles thereto todefine a rectangular bottom portion 7 for the basket and opposed sidewall portions 8 and 9 of rectangular form. The wires 6 in the bottomportion 7 extend from both ends of the bottom portion 7 and have spacedparallel wires 10 welded thereto at the intersections in right anglerelationship to define opposed end wall portions 11 and 13 for thebasket. The wires 1%] form the horizontal wires in the end walls of thebasket and the lowermost one of these has end portions which are bent,as at 14, to provide upwardly extending portions 15 welded thereto, asindicated at 16, to the extremities of the wires 10 so as not to leaveany raw ends projecting. In one forming operation, the side portions 18of the end wall portions 11 and 12 are bent upwardly, as at 19. Then, inanother forming operation, the side wall portions Sand 9 are bentupwardlywith respect to the opposite sides of the bottom 7, as indicatednited States Patent 6 ice at 17 in Figs. 2 and 3, and the end wallportions 11 and 12 are bent upwardly, as indicated at 20 in Figs. 2 and3, disposing the inwardly bent side portions 18 of the end wall portions11 and 12 in overlapping relation to the outer side of the adjacent endsof the side walls 8 and 9, as seen in Fig. 2. After this, theoverlapping portions are pressed together and welded, as shown in Figs.3 and 4, the upwardly bent end portions 15 of the lowermost horizontalwires 12 being welded to the outer side of the horizontal wires 6 of theside walls 8 and 9, as at 21, while the vertical wires 5 in the sidewalls 8 and 9 are welded, as at 22, to the inner side of the bent endportions of the horizontal wires 10 in the end walls 11 and 12. Thistieup between the bent portions 18 of the end walls 11 and 12 with theoverlapped end portions of the side walls 8 and 9 makes for neatlyclosed corners on the basket, which is particularly desirable in thecase of locker baskets and also makes for considerable strength andrigidity of the basket generally, and, of course, particularly in thecorner portions.

The upper ends of the wires 5 and 6 in the four walls of the basket arelooped around the rectangular wire top frame 23 of the basket, asindicated at 24 and 25, respectively, in Fig. 3, and the upper ends ofthe upwardly bent end portions 15 of the lowermost horizontal wires 1t}are also looped around and welded to the top frame 23, as indicated at26, and the fact that the loops 26 are on the far side of the endmostloops 24 of the adjacent side walls 8 and 9 relative to the end walls 11and 12 makes for added strength by this additional tie-in of the endwalls with the side walls.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim: 1

1. In a wire basket construction, a body constructed of a network ofwire providing a rectangular bottom, opposed side walls extendingupwardly from two sides of the bottom, and opposed end walls extendingupwardly from the other two sides of the bottom, the side and end wallsincluding vertically spaced horizontal wires welded to spaced parallelvertical wires, said end walls having lateral extension portions and thelowermost horizontal wires of said end walls having the opposite endportions thereof bent upwardly and welded to the extremities of theother horizontal wires of said end walls at the outer ends of saidlateral extensions, and said lateral extensions being bent substantiallyat right angles with respect to said end Walls and disposed inoverlapping abutting relation to the adjacent end portions of the sidewalls and welded thereto.

2. In a wire basket construction, a body constructed of a network ofwire providing a rectangular bottom, opposed side walls extendingupwardly t'rom two sides of the bottom, and opposed end walls extendingupwardly from the other two sides of the bottom, the side and end wallsincluding vertically spaced horizontal wires welded to spaced parallelvertical wires, said end walls having lateral extension portions and thelowermost horizontal wires ofsaid end walls having the opposite endportions thereof bent upwardly and welded to the extremities of theother horizontal wires of said end walls at the outer ends of saidlateral extensions, and said lateral extensions being bent substantiallyat right angles with respect to said end walls and disposed inoverlapping abutting relation to the adjacent end portions of the sidewalls and welded thereto, and a rectangular wire top frame to which theupper ends of the vertical wires of said side and end walls are secured.p

3. In a wire basket construction, a body constructed of a network ofwire providing a rectangular bottom,

